The Fossilized Pronunciation of the /3:/ Sound in the Speech of Intermediate Tunisian English Students: Problem, Reasons and Suggested Solution [PP: 70-79] Dr Chokri Smaoui Faculty of Letters & Humanities, University of Sfax, Tunisia Aicha Rahal Department of English, University of Kairouan, Tunisia ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Article History The paper received on: 30/10/2014 Accepted after peerreview on: 17/02/2015 Published on: 07/03/2015 Fossilization is a universal phenomenon that has attracted the attention of teachers and researchers alike In this regard, the aim of this study is to investigate a supposedly fossilized feature in Tunisian learners’ performance, namely the pronunciation of the /3:/ sound among Intermediate Tunisian English Students (ITES) It tries to show whether ITES pronounce it correctly or whether it is rather often replaced by another phoneme The study also tries to show the reasons behind fossilization It is conjectured that L1 interference, lack of exposure to L2 input, and the absence of pronunciation teaching methods are the main factors behind this fossilized pronunciation Finally, the study tries to apply the audio-articulation method to remedy for this type of fossilization This method contains many drills that can help learners articulate better, and consequently produce more intelligible sounds Keywords: Absence of pronunciation methods, Audio-articulation method, Fossilized pronunciation, Lack of exposure to L2 input, Tunisian EFL Learners Suggested Citation: Smaoui, C & Rahal, A (2015) The Fossilized Pronunciation of the /3:/ Sound in the Speech of Intermediate Tunisian English Students: Problem, Reasons and Suggested Solution International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies 3(1), 70-79 Retrieved from http://www.eltsjournal.org International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies Volume: 03 Issue: 01 ISSN: 2308-5460 January-March, 2015 Introduction One of the important differences between the processes of acquiring a first language (L1) and learning a second language (L2) is the phenomenon of fossilization, which occurs during L2 acquisition (Selinker 1972, Selinker & Lamendella 1978, Han 2004, 2011, 2013) While acquiring L1, the child as a rule achieves native like competence Learners, on the other hand, generally commit errors in learning the L2, and therefore fail to achieve native-like competence due to the persistence of such errors Obviously these errors can be temporary, and may disappear over time Alternatively, they can be permanent, thus resisting correction When we talk about persistent errors, we talk about the phenomenon of fossilization Fossilization occurs when non-target rules become fixed in the learner’s interlanguage Against this background, the present study investigates the fossilized pronunciation of the /3:/ sound in the performance of ITES It tries to show how this sound is often replaced by other phonemes It also looks into some possible reasons that might lead to this type of fossilization The study concludes with a suggestion to apply the audio-articulation method, which can be a possible cure for this fossilized sound Literature Review 2.1 The concept ‘Interlanguage’ The term Interlanguage (IL) was introduced by Larry Selinker in 1972 It is defined by him in the following terms: “A separate linguistic system based on the observable output which results from a learner’s attempted production of a TL form” (1972: 35) It is a language system produced by learners that neither belongs to the native language (NL) nor to the target language (TL), although it shares rules with both Selinker argues that the overwhelming majority of learners (perhaps as many as 95%) never manage to reach native-like fluency All they can reach, he maintains, is ‘attempted learning’ or ‘attempted meaningful performance’, referring to “the situation where an ‘adult’ attempts to express meanings, which he may already have, in a language which he is in the process of learning” (1972:32) As opposed to this overwhelming majority, the small minority (averaging 5%) is actually able to reach the top, as it were, and to become very close to NS competence Selinker refers to this process as ‘successful learning’ However, it is to be noted that since this small group constitutes the exception rather than the rule, they cannot possibly be the real subject of investigation; as Selinker put it: “ This 5% go through very different psycholinguistic processes than most second language learners and these successful learners may be safely ignored – in a counterfactual sense –for the purposes of establishing the constructs which point to the psychologically relevant data pertinent to most second language learners” (1972: 34) Furthermore, in contradistinction to Lenneberg’ concept of ‘latent biological structure’ (1967), Selinker hypothsized a ‘latent psychological structure’, which he argues to be an innate mechanism in the brain, and comprised five central processes: language transfer, transfer of training, overgeneralization, learning strategies, and communication strategies Nemser (1969) used the term “Approximative System” to refer to IL He defined this system as “the deviant linguistic system actually employed by the learner attempting to utilize the target language” (p.2) According to Nemser (1969), the Approximate System varies in character in accordance with proficiency level, learning Cite this article as Smaoui, C & Rahal, A (2015) The Fossilized Pronunciation of the /3:/ Sound in the Speech of Intermediate Tunisian English Students: Problem, Reasons and Suggested Solution International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies 3(1), 70-79 Retrieved from http://www.eltsjournal.org Page | 71 International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies Volume: 03 Issue: 01 ISSN: 2308-5460 January-March, 2015 experience, communication function, personal learning characteristics etc Corder (1971) also used the phrases ‘Idiosyncratic Dialect’, ‘Transitional Competence’ and ‘Transitional Dialect’ to refer to almost the same concept It has to be noted, however, that the term ‘interlanguage’ has outlived the other appellations, and is now the one that is overwhelmingly used in the second language acquisition (SLA) literature Figure 1: Transitional Dialects (Corder, 1971, P.151) As the figure shows, the interlanguage is a continuum between the first language and the target language It is a unique system independent from the first language and the TL At the same time, however, it shares some rules both with the NL and the TL; in this way, Corder reasons, it is eligible to be called ‘dialect’: “Two languages which share some rules of grammar are dialects” (1981: 14) One premise Corder bases his argument on is the fact that “any spontaneous speech intended by the speaker to communicate is meaningful, in the sense that it is systematic, regular, and consequently is, in principle, describable in terms of a set of rules, i.e it has a grammar” (1981: 14) 2.2 Fossilization As pointed out earlier, the term fossilization was introduced by Larry Selinker in 1972 He defined it then in the following words: “Fossilizable linguistic phenomena are linguistic items, rules and subsystems which speakers of a particular NL will tend to keep in their IL relative to a particular TL, no matter what the age of the learner or amount of explanation and instruction he receives in the TL” (1972: 36) Han (2013: 133) defines it as “an interlanguage-unique phenomenon in which a semi-developed linguistic form or construction shows permanent resistance to environmental influence and thus fails to progress towards the target” The Encyclopedic Dictionary of Applied Linguistics defines fossilization as: The phenomenon whereby linguistic items (particularly erroneous ones) become permanent in a learner’s Interlanguage The term was used by Selinker (1972) in relation to the processes of 'levelling' (lack of forward movement) or 'regression' ('backsliding' where a learner’s language reverts to an earlier stage) Fossilization may occur in relation to any linguistic level,’ foreign accent' being the result of one form of fossilization (p.135) So fossilization refers to the stagnation in a learner’s IL It is the cessation of learning and the lack of progression in the learning process In the Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics, fossilization is described as “the stabilization of a level of achievement in the use of a linguistic form which falls short of the norms of the target language No further learning takes place, and the form becomes a fossilized error in the usage of the learner, part of the learner’s interlanguage” (p.197) Fossilization is a stage in the acquisition of a second language or a foreign language It is characterized by the stabilization of target language norms till it becomes permanent The Longman dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics defines fossilization as: …a process (in second language learning) which sometimes occurs in which incorrect linguistic features become a permanent part of the way a person speaks or writes a language Cite this article as Smaoui, C & Rahal, A (2015) The Fossilized Pronunciation of the /3:/ Sound in the Speech of Intermediate Tunisian English Students: Problem, Reasons and Suggested Solution International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies 3(1), 70-79 Retrieved from http://www.eltsjournal.org Page | 72 International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies Volume: 03 Issue: 01 ISSN: 2308-5460 January-March, 2015 Aspects of pronunciation, vocabulary usage, and grammar may become fixed or fossilized in second language learning Fossilized features of pronunciation contribute to a person’s foreign accent These definitions suggest that fossilization involves many areas such as grammar, lexis, and pronunciation It is the end of learning in the IL of learners The definitions also clarify the major characteristics of IL 2.2.1 Temporary and permanent fossilization Selinker (1972) makes the distinction between two types of fossilization, temporary fossilization and permanent fossilization This is shown in the following figure: Figure 2: Temporary Fossilization and Permanent Fossilization (Wei, 2008, p.131) Temporary fossilization is a momentary habit that disappears overtime but permanent fossilization does not disappear even after correction and formal instruction 2.2.2 Grammatical Fossilization A considerable amount of second language acquisition research has focused on grammatical fossilization Han and Selinker (1999) conducted a study on grammatical fossilization They examined the interlanguage of Siri, a female from Thailand The findings showed that Siri omitted the subject from sentences when it was necessary She also used “to have” when the structure needed was “there be.” Han and Selinker (1999) argued that after a pedagogical treatment, Siri kept omitting the subject Fauziati (2011) studied errors of fossilization made by Indonesian students The results of the study indicated that the grammatical errors of Indonesian students can be categorized into: verb to be, bound morpheme, sentences structure, noun uses as a verb, prepositions and pronouns According to Fauziati, some errors were destabilized, some were fluctuating and others were stabilized (p.35) Butler-Tanaka (2000) also conducted a study on grammatical fossilization of Japanese adult learners of English The findings showed that there were a number of grammatical errors including articles, prepositions, inappropriate verb choice, auxiliary verbs and model verbs The researcher claimed that the consciousnessraising approach can be used to avoid fossilization Similarly, Nazadze (2012) studied fossilized grammatical errors committed by Georgian students of English The results showed that there are different types of errors, namely word order, verb tenses and articles It is argued that, in order to overcome this, comparison drills can be the suitable way to overcome fossilization In the same vein of research, Veronica Diane de Wit (2007) carried out a study on the fossilization of an adult learner He investigated the oral performance of an adult learner over a period of nine months The outcome of the study showed that the learner made a number of fossilized errors in four areas, basically morphology, syntax, semantics and vocabulary The result of the study also showed that fossilization is the result of L1, input and learning materials Therefore, a substantial number of studies have been carried out to study the fossilized grammatical errors committed by Second language learners It seems to be a general agreement on the factors behind Cite this article as Smaoui, C & Rahal, A (2015) The Fossilized Pronunciation of the /3:/ Sound in the Speech of Intermediate Tunisian English Students: Problem, Reasons and Suggested Solution International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies 3(1), 70-79 Retrieved from http://www.eltsjournal.org Page | 73 International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies Volume: 03 Issue: 01 ISSN: 2308-5460 January-March, 2015 grammatical fossilization which include L1, input and strategies of learning However; other trend of literature concentrated on studying the fossilized phonetic errors 2.2.3 Phonetic Fossilization Few studies examined phonetic fossilization Kahraman (2012) studied the fossilized pronunciation of the vowel phoneme /æ/ and the possible ways to overcome this fossilization According to the study, most Turkish learners of English, articulate /æ/ vowel phoneme as /e/ Kahraman proposed the audio-articulation method to remedy fossilization Demirezen (2005) studied the /ɔ/ and /ow/ sounds of Turkish students of the English language He also studied the fossilized pronunciation of the /v/ and /w/ sounds Demirezen used the audio-articulation method to solve the problem Additionally, Nilawati (2008) conducted a study on fossilized phonetic errors The participants were eight students from the English Department of the Faculty of Letter ANDALAS University Based on the results, there are four types of fossilized phonetic errors, namely consonant omission, error of consonant selection, error of vowel selection and diphthong selection These errors are the result of three causes: phonological interference from mother tongue, the complexity of English and insufficient input and corrective feedback In the Tunisian context, it seems that no study has been done to investigate the phonetic fossilization of Intermediate Tunisian English students Therefore, the present study tries to fill a gap in this area through the investigation the fossilized pronunciation of the /3:/sound in a group of university students of English The study spanned a period of three months It also tries to show what the target phonemes were replaced by, and the factors behind this fossilized pronunciation Finally, the study proposes the audio-articulation method as a solution to overcome this problem Methodology The participants of the study were 10 students from the Department of English at the Faculty of Arts & Humanities of Kairouan, Tunisia They were enrolled in second year English at the time of the experiment Their ages vary between 21 and 25 They were two males and eight females The phonetics component at this faculty (as in other English departments across the country) is dealt with in the first and second years Students go through some aspects pertaining to place and manner of articulation, strong and weak forms, as well as some aspects of intonation and suprasegmental features in general The experiment in the present study has two phases in it: time one and time two The researchers recorded data on time one and then on time two The aim was to know the pronunciation of the /3:/ sound We asked the students to pronounce some words containing the sound /3:/ After one year period, the subjects were asked to pronounce the same words The main goal was to see whether they pronounce the sound /3:/ correctly or they rather tend to replace it with other sounds The researchers used the program called ‘audacity’ to record the data and the EXCEL program for calculations Results and Discussion The results of the study show that students pronounced the /3:/ sound correctly However, students mispronounced the /3:/ sound and they replaced it with the /ɔ: / sound The /3:/ sound appeared times and the /ɔ: / sound 25 times, as shown in the following figure: Figure 3: The frequency of /3:/ and /ɔ: / sounds on Time-1 Cite this article as Smaoui, C & Rahal, A (2015) The Fossilized Pronunciation of the /3:/ Sound in the Speech of Intermediate Tunisian English Students: Problem, Reasons and Suggested Solution International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies 3(1), 70-79 Retrieved from http://www.eltsjournal.org Page | 74 International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies Volume: 03 Issue: 01 ISSN: 2308-5460 January-March, 2015 After one-year period, little development was detected in the pronunciation of the students They kept using the /ɔ: / sound instead of the /3:/ sound The /ɔ: / sound was pronounced 20 times and the /3:/ sound 10 times, as shown in the following figure: Figure 4: The frequency of /3:/ and /ɔ: / sounds on Time-2 The students’ pronunciation of this sound thus appears to be fossilized In this respect, Tarone (1994) has noted that the “central characteristic of any IL is that it fossilizes” (p.747) Their interlanguage is also preamble in the sense that they are open to influence from the native language or the first language (Adjemian 1976) Yip (1995) has also emphasized “the susceptibility of IL to infiltration by first language and target language rules or forms” (p 12) There are many factors that affect students’ interlanguage The first language (in this case Arabic) can influence the pronunciation of ITES Besides, the French sound /ɔ: / is pronounced in the place of the English /3:/sound According to Han (2009), the L1 “….provides the initial building materials to be gradually blended with material taken from the Target Language” (p.137).The Arabic or French pronunciations thus interfere into the acquisition of the English pronunciation Lack of exposure to L2 input can be another factor of fossilization As a matter of fact, These students learn English only through formal instruction and they not use English outside the classroom The level of absenteeism in oral language classes is also very high, unfortunately So the lack of practice in spoken English may well lead them to this type of fossilization The absence of pronunciation teaching methods is another factor that can lead to fossilization Therefore, classroom curriculum should give more importance to pronunciation and courses in phonetics and phonology Application of the Audio-Articulation Method 5.1 The Audio-Articulation Method The Audio-Articulation Method was developed by Mehmet Demirezen (2003, 2004) as a “fossilized mistake breaker” (as cited in Kahraman, 2013, p.269).This method starts with a motivation warm up, which takes some minutes Then it extends to a review of previous topic and the presentation, practice and production of the language to be taught 5.2 Preparing of a Corpus According to the principles of the audioarticulation method, the researcher prepares a corpus of 80 to 100 words, having to with this fossilized problem- causing phoneme, then develops all his/her exercises from this corpus In this research, the words and the phonetic transcription cited in the corpus were taken from Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 7th edition The researchers used the words from the corpus and developed other drilling techniques like Cite this article as Smaoui, C & Rahal, A (2015) The Fossilized Pronunciation of the /3:/ Sound in the Speech of Intermediate Tunisian English Students: Problem, Reasons and Suggested Solution International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies 3(1), 70-79 Retrieved from http://www.eltsjournal.org Page | 75 International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies Volume: 03 Issue: 01 ISSN: 2308-5460 January-March, 2015 minimal pairs contrast, chain drills, substitutions drills, repetition drills, inflectional drills, replacement drills, restatement drills, substitution drills, contradiction drills, transformation drills, integration drills, rejoinder drills, restoration drills, question-answer drills, language games, and many other creative types Table1: Corpus [The first transcription is British and the second is American Some words have the same American and British transcriptions That is why we used only one transcription.] Table 2: Minimal Pairs [The American transcription is used.] Practicing the topic: The /3:/ sound is replaced by the /ɔ: / sound The researcher used the tongue twisters to solve the pronunciation problem Students repeated the tongue twisters one by one or in groups Tongue Twisters: Cite this article as Smaoui, C & Rahal, A (2015) The Fossilized Pronunciation of the /3:/ Sound in the Speech of Intermediate Tunisian English Students: Problem, Reasons and Suggested Solution International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies 3(1), 70-79 Retrieved from http://www.eltsjournal.org Page | 76 International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies Volume: 03 Issue: 01 ISSN: 2308-5460 January-March, 2015 -A Persian person purchased a perfect purple purse on purpose -A poor pauper paused on purpose to pawn a porpoise -Urgent detergent Recognition exercise The following exercise was also made use of in the treatment: Example 1: The researcher: Dear colleagues, I am going to give you some words now, if you hear the sound/ɔ:/ say one, if you hear the /3:/ sound, you say two Here is an example: Researcher: student1, which sound you hear in the word “board”? Student1: one R: Good Thank you.S2, you tell me, which sound we hear in the word “bird” S2: two R: very good, S2.S3, which sound is heard in the word “burn”? S3: two R: well done, S3, thank you Example2: Researcher: Dear friend, now I am going to give you two words If you hear the sound /ɔ: / you say one, if you hear the sound /3:/, you say two Here is an example: R: Student4, which sound you hear in the word “caught” and “curt” S4: one and two R: correct, thank you S4.S5, “curl/call” S5: two-one R: very good, S5.S6 “cords/curds” S6: one-two! R: well done, thank you Example 3: R: now I am going to give you three words If you hear /ɔ: / sound you say one, or if you hear the sound /3:/, you say two Here an example: S7 you tell me, which sound you hear in the words “call, bird, yawn.” S7: one-two-one R: very good S7.S8 “Sir, warm, work.” S8: two-one-two R: well done Giving the rule /ɔ: / is long mid back rounded vowel, as in the following words, fall, walk, gall, inform… /3:/ is long mid central spread vowel, as in the following items, word, world, bird, first… Figure 5: The following figure shows the articulation of the two sounds: (Ann Baker, 1991 p43) Doing more exercises: 1-Sentences with contextual clues: -She bought a short shirt -He walks to his work -You celebrated your first year of marriage -The worm lives in a warm atmosphere -He hurls the hall -She forced him to be the first candidate 2-Provide the phonetic transcription of the following minimal pairs: Bought/bert Boar/bur Caul/curl Cawed/curd Fall/furl Horn/herne Or/err Giving Assignments The researcher can give the following tasks as homework 1- Repeat all the exercises at home 2- Prepare minimal pairs Cite this article as Smaoui, C & Rahal, A (2015) The Fossilized Pronunciation of the /3:/ Sound in the Speech of Intermediate Tunisian English Students: Problem, Reasons and Suggested Solution International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies 3(1), 70-79 Retrieved from http://www.eltsjournal.org Page | 77 International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies Volume: 03 Issue: 01 ISSN: 2308-5460 January-March, 2015 3- Prepare sentences with contextual clues 4- Prepare tongue twisters 5- Write a dialogue including /ɔ: / and /3:/ vowel phonemes 6- Write a paragraph (in 200 words) by using the words given in the corpus Based on the findings of the present study, the audio-articulation model can be used to remedy phonetic fossilization It integrates pronunciation practice into oral communication According to Demirezen (2005), this model serves many functions It promotes oral fluency and productive competence (p.82) It is recommended, therefore, that the curriculum of pronunciation should include this method It will enrich the language teaching through the use of explicit phonetic exercises It will also develop the teaching of pedagogy Conclusion Pronunciation is a motor skill It is necessary to find out the errors that learners face and to study them The nature of errors can help L2 teachers and learners understand the process of learning and to find out the suitable solutions to overcome the problem The ITES face the problem of Fossilization and the present study attempted to tackle this issue The results showed how the /3:/ sound is replaced by the /ɔ: / sound and how the phenomenon becomes fossilization in the speech of ITES After the investigation, the researcher suggests that the Audioarticulation method can be used to handle such fossilized errors because the phonetic fossilization can harm the communicative competence of the learners The study has its limitations also but it surely can be guiding light for future endeavors in this area The limited number of students for data, their geographical location, gender etc are the limitations and more research is needed in this regard focusing on each aspect of this Even the other fossilized sounds can also be the area for investigation To conclude, the pronunciation curriculum, in Tunisia, should give importance to the audio-articulation method About the Authors Dr Chokri Smaoui is an Associate Professor with the Faculty of Letters & Humanities, Sfax, Tunisia Aicha Rahal is currently MA researcher with the Department of English of University of Kairouan, Tunisia The present paper is a part of her academic research References Baker, A (1991) Ship or Sheep: An Intermediate Pronunciation Course Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Corder, S.P (1971).Idiosyncratic Dialect and Error Analysis.IRAL 9, 2, 147-160 Crystal, D (ed.) (2008).A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics (6th edn) Hong Kong: Blackwell Publishing Ltd Demiresen, M (2005).The / / and /ow/ Contrast: Curing a Fossilized Pronunciation Error of Turkish Teacher Trainees of English language Journal of Arts and Sciences 3, 71-84 Fauziati, E (2011).Interlanguage and Error Fossilization: A Study of Indonesian Students Learning English as a Foreign Language Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics 1, 1, 23-38 Han, Z & Larry, S (1999).Error Resistance: Towards an Empirical Pedagogy Language Teaching Research 3, 3, 248-275 Han, Z (2009) Interlanguage and Fossilization: Towards an Analytic Model In V Cook & L Wei (Eds.), Contemporary Applied Linguistics London: Continuum Johnson, K &Johnson, H (1998) Encyclopedic Dictionary of Applied Linguistics Oxford:Blackwell Kahraman, A (2012).Defosilization of /æ/ Phoneme Pronunciation of Non-native EFL Teachers Journal of Language Teaching and Research 3, 3,379-385 Cite this article as Smaoui, C & Rahal, A (2015) The Fossilized Pronunciation of the /3:/ Sound in the Speech of Intermediate Tunisian English Students: Problem, Reasons and Suggested Solution International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies 3(1), 70-79 Retrieved from http://www.eltsjournal.org Page | 78 International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies Volume: 03 Issue: 01 ISSN: 2308-5460 January-March, 2015 Kahraman, A (2013) EFL Teachers’ Fossilized Pronunciation Problem of Dark /l/ and the Solution Dumlupinar Universitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi 35,269-279 Nilawati, N (2008) The Fossilized Phonetic Errors of the English Department Students of ANDALAS University : An Interlanguage Study M.A.Thesis English Department-Faculty of Letters ANDALAS University Nemser, W (1971).Approximative Systems of Foreign Language Learners International Review of Applied Linguistics 9,115-124 Nozadze, A (2012).Dealing with Fossilized Errors while Teaching Grammar Journal of Education 1, 1, 41-46 Richards, J., Platt, J &Platt, H (eds) (1992).Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics (2nd edn).Essex: Longman Selinker, L (1972) Interlanguage International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching 10, 3,209-231 Tanaka, P B (2000) Fossilization: A Chronic Condition or is Consciousness-Raising the Cure? (Published MA dissertation), Birmingham University Tarone, E (2006).Interlanguage Elsevier Ltd 4,747-752 Wei, X (2008).Implication of IL Fossilization in Second Language Acquisition English Language Teaching 1, 1, 127-131 Appendix1: Corpus: 30 words Work, worm, wormed, worming, word, worded, wording, world, worker, worked, working, worship, whorl, wert, tourney, occur, curse, curt, nurse, hearse, turk, turkey, surd, curse, purple, urban, purpose, person, burn, furze Cite this article as Smaoui, C & Rahal, A (2015) The Fossilized Pronunciation of the /3:/ Sound in the Speech of Intermediate Tunisian English Students: Problem, Reasons and Suggested Solution International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies 3(1), 70-79 Retrieved from http://www.eltsjournal.org Page | 79 ... Rahal, A (2015) The Fossilized Pronunciation of the /3: / Sound in the Speech of Intermediate Tunisian English Students: Problem, Reasons and Suggested Solution International Journal of English Language... Rahal, A (2015) The Fossilized Pronunciation of the /3: / Sound in the Speech of Intermediate Tunisian English Students: Problem, Reasons and Suggested Solution International Journal of English Language... detected in the pronunciation of the students They kept using the /ɔ: / sound instead of the /3: / sound The /ɔ: / sound was pronounced 20 times and the /3: / sound 10 times, as shown in the following